


all sharp things stay hidden

by cosmoscrow



Category: Hades (Video Game 2018)
Genre: BAMF Hypnos, Mentions of Chaos, Mentions of Nyx, Mentions of Sisyphus, Mentions of Thanatos, anyway anyone ever think about that hypnos and thanatos are chaos grandkids, heehee hoho lemme pepper in some made up lore, i seriously dont know how to tag this, maybe not even BAMF as opposed to TERRIFYING, mild body horror, more like: secretly BAMF, this came to me on a whim, zag honey you did nothing wrong im just mean
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-20
Updated: 2020-12-20
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:47:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,815
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28189446
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cosmoscrow/pseuds/cosmoscrow
Summary: Hypnos is mellow. He is quirky, cheeky and very sleepy. It's a soft and gentle exterior, a contrast to his brother's apparent coldness.But, the cushy exterior also hides teeth.or; Sisyphus' actions towards Thanatos apparently affected more than just him.
Relationships: Hypnos & Zagreus (Hades Video Game)
Comments: 24
Kudos: 158
Collections: I Bet You Weren’t Expecting THIS (character to be so badass)





	all sharp things stay hidden

**Author's Note:**

> Salutations!
> 
> Yeah, I'm obsessed with this game, I've been playing non-stop and I'd lay down my life for Zagreus. But ya'll know I am spectacularly weak for sibling relationships so here have my take on the trope Foolish Sibling Is Secretly Actually Really Strong And Terrifying.
> 
> Lemme know what you think and enjoy! And pls scream about the game i love it so much oughoughooough–  
> \- Crow

* * *

Zagreus had been inspecting his variety of infernal arms in the courtyard, when Skelly’s constant stream of idle nonsense was interrupted by his curious call of; “Oh, heya, boyo, what can we do for ya?”

The young god turned, letting his trusty Stygius hover back into his rightful place amongst the weapons. He blinked in surprise when Hypnos greeted him with a lazy wave.

“Hypnos? It’s rare to see you out here,” Zagreus smiled as he added wryly; “or moving around for the matter.”

Hypnos chuckled, not all bothered by the light teasing and only floating closer. “What can I say? Sometimes even I want to spend my few rare breaks with a change of scenery.” As if to prove it, he looked around with his permanently half-lidded eyes, observing the sparse decorations of etched tiles and overhanging pomegranate trees. “I haven’t been here in a while. However, can’t say much changed, eh?”

Zagreus shrugged. “Father isn’t much of a decorator.”

“For shame, really,” the other god joked, bringing his hand out underneath his crimson quilt to gesture at their surroundings. “I reckon one could remodel all this into a real eye-catcher! Have a fountain or two, maybe even a grand statue of the Lord himself!”

The prince winced at the mere thought of an artful stone statue of his Father – at least you couldn’t get his stoic demeanour anymore accurate than that. “I think I’ll pass on this one, Hypnos.”

Another chuckle. “Alright, it’s a suggestion but alas,” Hypnos lifted his hand to idly scratch the back of his head, ruffling the wispy curls. “Interior design is not the topic I was about to breach with you now.”

Dark eyebrows arch in question as Zagreus shifted a little, interest piqued once more. “Right. Anything I can help you with?”

Just like his twin Thanatos, Hypnos had bright amber eyes with a stare, that could border on unnerving the longer those irises were trained on you. They regarded Zagreus with nothing short of casual friendliness, a familiar sight that the young prince had grown up with. “Oh, it’s nothing more than a question, really! I just couldn’t help but wonder, you know…” One of his thin fingers pointed towards the shattered shackle attached to Zagreus’ belt. “Where might you have acquired this lovely piece of jewellery?”

“Oh, this?” The prince smiled, though not without a hint of confusion. He found it just a tad odd how Hypnos of all people would take note of such an old rusty thing. However, he just shrugged it off as one of the god’s many, many quirks. “It was a gift, a keepsake really. It was given to me by Sisyphus.”

Hypnos’ permanent little grin grew. “ _Ah_ , thought so.”

There was an immediate shift in the air. Zagreus furrowed his brows at the change, so minuscule and yet, the effect was not unnoticed. The sort of atmosphere of temporary peace, charged with something boiling just underneath the surface – hidden away, but rumbling every now and then. He couldn’t exactly place his finger on it, what exactly he was sensing.

“Is…there a problem with that?” he asked carefully. This wasn’t another skirmish within the realm of his Father, where he could just run headlong into battle and feast on the carnage at his own hands. This was a conversation with a friend, someone Zagreus has grown to trust and appreciate. And frankly speaking, the unknown glint appearing in the tired eyes of Hypnos was something so fundamentally new, he wasn’t sure how to approach that, even with the casual throw away gesture of the other god’s hand.

“Objectively, there is absolutely no fault in that, I suppose!” Hypnos chuckled – it sounded bone-dry. “After all, you are the Prince, free-running and meeting all sorts of shades on the way to the top, so of course there was a big chance of running into him, not? And with your oh so kind disposition, you are well on your way to making friends with about anyone you come across.” He shrugged nonchalantly, grin still in place. Suddenly, it seemed a lot less friendly.

“Hypnos, what–” Zagreus began, but surprisingly, the other god interrupted him. He was floating a little closer now, just a tad higher than the prince’s height. Bright amber eyes appeared sharp in the dim lights of the Underworld.

“ _Subjectively_ speaking, however, I must admit how the mere thought of even _looking_ at that vermin fills me with absolute contempt.” The words were frigid, sizzling in the air like poison, despite flowing so freely from that grin. That grin, now a little too sharp, a little too wide, teeth glinting with honed edges. “Nothing more but a snivelling little heap of disgrace. Sentenced to a punishment for eternity, his efforts forever for naught, tortured by never-ending failure – fitting I say, but maybe he should experience worse.”

“I– I wasn’t aware you hold such strong feelings towards the King.” Zagreus was reeling inside; never had he experienced Hypnos in such a way. Sleepy, mellow and quirky Hypnos with his clever quips. It was like someone had replaced him by a far more haughtier version of him. It was then when the prince could place the feeling, the shift in the air – _wrath_.

The humourless laugh, that bubbled from the other god’s throat was icy and condescending. “Oh, how are you ever aware, dear Zagreus.”

A spark of irritation bloomed within the prince, but Skelly, who had remained remarkably quiet the entire time, interjected him before he could.

“Hey now!” the skeleton hollered unkindly. “You leave boyo alone there! I’m sure this is all just some big misunderstanding, why don’t we all have a talk and sort this out, hm?”

The temperature seemed to drop in an instant, when Hypnos lifted his piercing gaze towards Skelly. His grin was still in place and Zagreus was sure now, that it was fake. He watched how the other lifted his hand, fingers poised.

“Wait–” His eyes widened as Hypnos snapped his fingers, stare unrelenting as purple miasma surrounded the skeleton.

“Uh-oh,” Skelly said, before darkness ate him, making him wither away and his ashen form falling into nothingness.

Anger ignited in Zagreus’ chest – Skelly may be immortal, but this was just too much. “Hypnos, that’s enough!” He whipped his head around to face the other god again, but stilled immediately, entire body locking up.

Hypnos loomed over the prince, shadows falling over him. His bright eyes stood out within the darkness; gone was the tiredness, the sleepiness. Instead, they were wide open, cold golden pinpricks bearing down on Zagreus. Blades of scythes bloomed from his back, massive and curved, inching over his thin shoulders like blood-hungry beasts. His entire form seemed almost distorted, abstract and fuzzy at the edges, there and somehow not. Like everything, and yet nothing at all.

“Dear Prince Zagreus,” came Hypnos’ now reverberating yet gentle voice from the shadows in his face. “I insist for you to take heed, when I say that you must never speak of that _wretched_ _vermin_ in my presence or my dear _brother’s_ ever again. For I shall make sure, I myself _will_ be the one to send you down the river Styx if you forget yourself.”

For a moment, Zagreus thought of Chaos, then Nyx, their faces fading onto the God of Sleep. He hovered deceptively peaceful in the air, a menacing gentleness surrounding him, the power of night and darkness shrouding him with the flow of chaos in his ichor woven veins. His eyes stared down into prince’s own mismatched ones, attentive, focussed, _threatening_.

“Are we understood, my Prince?”

And it came to Zagreus, that Hypnos may be quirky, mellow, gentle. But in the end, underneath the layers of cheeky quips, lazy grins and soft blinking eyes of honey, Hypnos was a God. He swallowed.

“I–” His mind felt blank, like a plain of nothingness, with only two piercing eyes staring right back at him. “Yes.”

As soon as the words left his mouth, a wave of sudden vertigo overtook him, a near sleepy haze almost making his knees give to under him. He blinked hard, once, twice, trying to regain any semblance of balance and rational thought. The courtyard stopped spinning around him and everything cleared, like a fog lifting. And he was met with Hypnos – hovering just enough over the tiles that his feet wont touch them, hunched back into his red quilt. His grin was good-natured and lazy, his half-lidded eyes were soft like molten gold.

“Glad we could talk! Hope that cleared some things up, hm?” He chuckled with his usual sleepy cheer.

“I– yes? Yes, I’m–” Zagreus brought a hand up to his forehead, feelings wisps of dizziness and mild fatigue fall off of his mind like fading drops of water. He thought of cold eyes bright within the darkness. “Hypnos, wait–”

“Sorry! No can do, the Lord expects me to be back at my post on time.” The god gave the prince a friendly wave. “But I’m sure we’ll be seeing each other soonish anyway, eh?”

Zagreus watched him retreat back into the House, humming an unfamiliar tune under his breath. He’s already halfway nodding off, causing him to briefly bump into one of the pillars marking the entrance. Hypnos yelped and then hurried through the door, leaving the prince behind in the empty courtyard.

Vaguely, he could hear Skelly re-materialising behind him. Old bones rattled and there was a huff.

“Hmph! Boyo’s sure got a temper, huh?”

Zagreus remained silent for a while, red and green eyes never leaving the spot where Hypnos had vanished.

(“ _Are we understood, my Prince?_ ”)

Finally, a faint shiver raced down his spine.

“Yeah,” he murmured. “Who knew?”

He hoped Nyx did. 

He hoped Thanatos did.

Because he sure as hell didn’t and maybe, he now knew why mother and brother have never said anything.

* * *

(Somewhere, within the confines of the House, Nyx remembered the day her dear Thanatos was tricked. How he was put up in chains. The pain and humiliation that had plagued him. She remembered her sorrow for her son, her anger at that foolish king. But most of all, amongst the whirlwind of holding her son close once he was free and calming her fury, Nyx remembered Hypnos.)

(Nyx remembered seeing his temper, once buried deeply underneath his peaceful exterior. How it was violently dug up at the sight of his poor brother. How his soft smile had turned razor sharp, how darkness had casted shadows upon him. How deceitful order gave way to chaos, ridding the lines in his form to everything and nothing. And she remembered the carnage that surrounded him, numerous blades blooming out of his back like flowers, how his wrath had taken down everything around him.)

(She still wasn’t sure how she managed to calm him.)

(How he even _remained_ that calm.)

**Author's Note:**

> listen; you can yank the headcanon that Hypnos is secretly incredibly protective of his secretly soft brother from my cold dead hands


End file.
